USA > Rhode Island > Rhode Island privateers in King George's war, 1739-1748 > Part 9
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On July 19, 1744, off Cape Maisi in the direction of Baracoa, the King George captured a small Bermuda-built sloop commanded by Michael Gonsales. This sloop was owned by Don Pedro Barraco of Santiago de Cuba, was
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manned by 10 Spaniards, and had sailed from Baracoa in ballast with 90 silver pieces-of-eight. A prize crew, among whom were William Jones and Thomas Arnold, was put on this sloop, which was brought into Newport early in August. The King George on this cruise had a brush with two French vessels and took both of them. Captain Cranston took out their cargoes, ransomed one of them, and sank the other. About September 9 the King George met a privateer snow off South Carolina, which fired a broadside or two at the King George. The gaff of the mainsail of the King George was shot away, but she returned the broadsides so briskly that the enemy privateer was glad to escape. The King George, Captain Cranston, arrived at Newport on the evening of September 20, 1744.
The King George on her next cruise sailed in consort with the Britannia. Off Martinique these two privateers met a stout French ship of 18 carriage guns, and a very sharp en- gagement followed that lasted five hours. The French ship, which finally surrendered, was the Castor et Pollux, Captain Fresh, bound from Bordeaux for Martinique, and laden with provisions and baled goods. Her guns were 6 pounders and 4 pounders, and she had a crew of 60 or 70 men. The two Rhode Island privateers carried her into Antigua, where they arrived on or before May 3, 1745. When the prize and her cargo were condemned and sold, the Britannia's share amounted to £613-11-6. The King George and the Britannia sailed from Antigua for Newport about July 13, 1745, but parted com- pany on Sunday, July 28. The King George arrived at New- port on Wednesday morning, July 31, and the Britannia probably arrived a few days later.
The King George was soon ready for sea again, her outfitting return being made in September. She now carried 14 carriage
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and 16 swivel guns, a crew of 80 men as before, and provisions for six months. Her former commander, Capt. Benjamin Cranston, left her to take command of the ill-fated Duke of Cumberland. On September 12, 1745, Nathaniel Sweeting, formerly master of the King George, was commissioned captain, and the other officers were First Lieutenant John Maudsley, late first lieutenant of the Britannia, Second Lieutenant Wil- liam Brown, probably from the Reprisal, Master George Bryan, who had been mate on the Hector, Mate James Currey, Captain's Quartermaster John Beauchamp, Gunner James Sweet, Boatswain John Cain and Carpenter Zebulon Geers, from the Defiance.
The King George, Captain Sweeting, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and about noon on December 14, 1746, three miles off Point Naga, Teneriffe, in the Canary Islands, captured the Spanish brigantine San José des Animas, 45 tons, Manuel Gomez, master. She had been built at Palma in the Canaries three years before and traded among the islands. Her crew consisted of 14 men, and she carried 8 passengers and a cargo of wheat and barley. All but two of the passengers and crew were put on shore at Teneriffe. William Brown, aged 22, second lieutenant on the King George, was put in command of the prize crew of the San José des Animas, and took her to Funchal, Madeira, where they arrived on or before January 2, 1746-7. Captain Brown then brought the prize across the Atlantic to Newport, one prisoner being held on board the San José and the other on the King George.
The King George captured another vessel while off Africa. This prize was also taken into Madeira and sold there together with the cargoes of both prizes. The proceeds from these sales were invested in Madeira wine, which was brought to Newport in the San José des Animas, which arrived about the middle
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of March 1747. The King George returned to Newport to refit and sailed on another cruise about the middle of May.
On June 30, 1747, the King George, Captain Sweeting, captured the settee St. Jean Baptiste, Capt. Jean Baptiste d' Aubert, about ten leagues southwest of Santa Cruz. This settee was a vessel of 100 tons, mounting 2 carriage guns, manned with a crew of 15 men, and bound from Martinque for Cadiz with a cargo of coffee and sugar valued between £30,000 and £40,000. Captain Sweeting placed his quartermaster, William Jones, in command of the prize, and sent her to New- port, where she, together with the King George, arrived on July 16, 1747.
The King George was now placed under the command of Capt. John Maudsley, formerly her first lieutenant, who filed his outfitting return on July 27, 1747. The owners are given as John Brown, Thomas Coggeshall and Benjamin Cranston. If this Benjamin Cranston was the former commander of the King George and of the Duke of Cumberland, it would appear that he could not have sailed on that ill-fated voyage in 1745, but must have luckily given up his command and remained on shore. The crew of the King George numbered 100 men, twenty more than on her previous voyage, and she carried provisions for six months. The other officers were: First Lieutenant William Brown, Master George Bryan and Boat- swain John Cane, all three of whom had served on the previous cruise, Second Lieutenant William Jones, who had served on the King George in 1744, Mate John Huxham, Captain's Quartermaster Jeremiah Cranston, grandson of Governor Samuel Cranston, and Gunner William Brown.
On January 13, 1747-8, the King George, Captain Maudsley, in consort with the privateer Diana of Bermuda, Capt. Francis Fruin, off the coast of Hispaniola, captured a Spanish prize
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sloop commanded by Emanuel de Campos. The sloop was originally Dutch, and had been captured on January 20, 1748, N. S., by the Spanish privateer El Rosario y El Fenix of Santo Domingo. First Lieutenant William Brown was made captain of the prize, and William Parsons served as mate on the prize, which they brought to Newport. This prize sloop was sold at auction at Newport on March 28 for £4,000. Her cargo consisted of £412-16 worth of hides, and £5975-10 worth of "Nicaraugo wood".
THE Queen of Hungary, CAPTAIN POTTER.
Another of the privateers fitted out at Newport upon the declaration of war against France was the Queen of Hungary, a sloop of 80 tons, mounting 12 carriage and 12 swivel guns, and named in honor of our fair ally, the young Arch-Duchess Maria-Theresa, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia (now Czecho- Slovakia). The naming of Rhode Island privateers after the principal characters in the bloody drama of politics and war, that was being fought in distant Europe, shows how close the colonists were in touch with world affairs, how far less pro- vincial they were than their descendants of later generations.
The Queen of Hungary was owned by Solomon Townsend, Jonathan Tillinghast, Samuel Freebody and John Channing, all of Newport. She carried a crew of 70 men and provisions for six months.
Apparently it was at first planned to give her command to Peter Marshall, who had served as lieutenant under Captain Dennis on the Prince Frederick, but Marshall decided to go as first lieutenant on the Phoenix, doubtless obtaining better terms for his services.
Capt. Nathaniel Potter, formerly lieutenant on the Tartar, sailed as captain of the Queen of Hungary with the following
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officers: First Lieutenant Charles Davidson, formerly cap- tain of the St. Andrew, Second Lieutenant Alexander Kenne- mouth, Master William Pinnegar, Mate Philip Garret, Cap- tain's Quartermaster Robert Stoddard, Gunner William Smedley, Boatswain Alexander Blowey and Carpenter John Martindale.
Captain Potter filed his report to the Admiralty on June 23 and soon sailed. The Phoenix and the Queen of Hungary met and sailed in consort on the Banks of Newfoundland in August, and on the 23rd of that month captured the French ship Union of Neuille (Neuilly), 130 tons, 16 men, commanded by Capt. Jacques Landais. She was laden with salt, wine, wood and meat. Barnebas Allen of the Queen of Hungary was put in command of the Union, which reached Holmes Hole on Saturday, September 15, and arrived safely at Newport on the evening of September 27, 1744.
The Queen of Hungary returned to Newport in the autumn and refitted for another cruise. Her captain's certificate is dated November 20, and reports provisions for a six months' cruise and a crew of 50 men, twenty less than she carried on her previous voyage. Capt. Thomas Conklyn replaced Cap- tain Potter as her commander, and Alexander Kennemouth was advanced to the office of first lieutenant. The Mate Philip Garret and the Carpenter John Martindale shipped in their old berths. The other officers were Second Lieutenant William Dode, Master Alexander McDonald, Gunner Zacharias Cahoone and Boatswain Samuel Cooper. The Queen of Hungary cruised in consort with the Defiance, Captain Dennis, and between Nov- ember 1744 and May 1745 captured seventeen prizes.
THE Hector, CAPTAIN THURSTON.
Capt. Godfrey Malbone's interest in privateering was renewed with the declaration of war against France. He
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LETTER OF CAPT. DANIEL FONES GIVING AN ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE OF FAMME GOOSE BAY From original in Rhode Island State Archives
Courtesy of Society of Colonial Wars
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fitted out the Hector and the Charming Betty in the spring of 1744 and the Duke of Marlborough during the summer.
The sloop Hector, 100 tons, 12 guns, was placed under the command of Capt. Joseph or James Thurston, and sailed late in June or early in July 1744. Although the file of privateer out-fitting returns, which is preserved in the State Archives, begins with 1743, it is not entirely complete, and there is no return for the Hector in 1744. Sheffield tells us that at this time the Hector was owned by Godfrey Malbone and Joseph Wanton. It is quite possible that the outfitting return was extant in Sheffield's day and examined by him. Joseph Wanton was the collector of the port of Newport who was assaulted in connection with the condemnation of the ship Angola. He was son of Governor William Wanton, captain of the privateer Greyhound, and later became loyalist governor of Rhode Island.
The Hector returned to Newport, was refitted, and sailed again late in May or early in June 1745. Her outfitting return is dated May 23, and shows that she carried a crew of 80 men and provisions for six months. Godfrey Malbone is given as her owner. On this voyage her officers were Capt. William Higgins, formerly lieutenant on the Revenge, First Lieutenant John Culverson, Second Lieutenant Edward Johnson, Master Daniel Carr, Mate George Bryan, Captain's Quartermaster Isaac Rogers, Gunner John Thompson, Boatswain Benjamin Sabin and Carpenter William Butts.
On July 25, 1745, off the east end of Porto Rico, the sloop Hector, Captain Higgins, captured the Spanish sloop Nostra Senora (de) las Animas, 50 tons, whose cargo consisted of 31 scroons of pimento. All of the Spanish crew made their escape in a canoe to Porto Rico before the boarding party from the Hector reached the prize. George Bryan, mate of the
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Hector, was put on board the sloop with a prize crew, among whom was Samuel Read, and brought the Nostra Senora to Newport, where they arrived before August 20. The testi- mony in regard to the capture was given at a private hearing of the Admiralty Court on August 20, and the vessel condemned on September 7, 1745.
The Hector meanwhile fell in with the privateer Triton, Captain Rosewell of New York, and was present at the capture of the French pink, Annunciation. Jonathan Wickham, first lieutenant of the Hector sought a half interest in the prize on behalf of his vessel, but lost his case because the "Hector was not making up to said pink, but keeping at a great distance and steering a different course".
SLOOP Phoenix, CAPTAIN BENNETLAND.
Evan Malbone (a relative of Godfrey), Thomas Wickham (brother of Benjamin) and Jonathan Thurston fitted out the privateer sloop Phoenix, 80 tons, 10 carriage guns and 14 swivel guns, in June 1744. She had a crew of 80 men, and was com- manded by Capt. William Bennetland, whose return to the Admiralty clerk is dated July 2. Peter Marshall, who had served as mate on the Victory in 1742 and as first lieutenant on the Prince Frederick in 1743 and 1744, went as first lieutenant on this cruise of the Phoenix. In June he had planned to go as captain of one of the five new privateers that were being fitted out at Newport, but apparently receiving a better offer from the owners of the Phoenix, decided to go in her as second in command. The other officers were Second Lieutenant Samuel Thurston, Master John Battey, Captain's Quarter- master Joseph Rogers, Mate Charles Davenport, Gunner Alexander Mitchell, Boatswain John Mumford, and Carpenter Francis Bassil. The vessel was provisioned for a five months' cruise.
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Taking advantage of the warm summer weather, the Phoenix sailed northward to cruise off the Grand Banks, and on July 27, 1744, in latitude 44° N and longitude 54° W off Cape Breton, she took without resistance the French goelette (schooner) Magdalaine, 60 tons, Auger Lauga, master. She was manned by II men, and bound from St. Pierre, Martinique, for Louis- bourg with salt, fish, salmon and oil. Peter Marshall, first lieutenant of the Phoenix, was put on board the Magdalaine with a prize crew, and brought her into Newport, where she arrived before August 16 .*
Soon after this capture the Phoenix fell in with the Queen of Hungary, and on August 23 the two privateers captured the Union.
THE Duke of Marlborough, CAPTAIN MORRIS.
Godfrey Malbone, in company with Samuel Vernon and William Vernon, fitted out the privateer Duke of Marlborough in the summer of 1744. She was named in honor of England's great military hero, and was a snow of 140 tons, mounting 14 guns. She carried six months' provisions and a crew of 130 men commanded by Capt. Robert Morris. Her outfitting return, which was dated August 6, shows her officers to have been First Lieutenant Robert Gibbs, formerly of the Revenge, Second Lieutenant William Bennett, Master Benjamin Carr, Mate Ezekiel Hatch, Captain's Quartermaster Joseph Bull, Gunner William Volkers, Boatswain George Twist and Car- penter Grindle Thurston. Sheffield states that she was owned by Godfrey Malbone and James Honeyman, Jr., She carried the following additional officers: Second Mate Isaac Martin, Boatswain's mates John Mathews and William Kirk, Gunner's mate Martin Howard, Carpenter's mate John Moore, Surgeon
* The "Boston News-Letter" states that a fishing schooner laden with gree fish, that had been taken by Captain Potter, arrived at Newport.
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Theodore Coker, Surgeon's mate Daniel Varno, Steward Robert Dunbar and Cook Patrick Murphy. Mathews suc- ceeded Twist as Boatswain.
The Duke of Marlborough touched at St. Ann's, Jamaica, from which port she sailed at 10 o'clock in the morning of January 26, 1745-6. About noon on February 14, while sailing in consort with a Boston privateer brigantine, commanded by Capt. Nathaniel Ingerson, a sail was sighted off Cape Antonio. The privateers gave chase to the vessel, and some six hours later captured her. She proved to be a French ship or snow of 250 tons, from Nantes, bound from Leogane for The Havana, and had 250 hogsheads of sugar, together with indigo, tobacco and hides, and was brought into New Providence for condemna- tion before March 18, 1744-5.
Captain Morris and Captain Ingerson soon sailed in consort with a privateer sloop in search of a fleet of 16 merchantmen bound from Cape Francois. Later the prize vessel was laden with sugar, and was convoyed to Boston by Captain Ingerson, where they arrived on Tuesday, June 4, 1745.
While at Nassau, New Providence, articles of consortship were entered into on March 18, 1744-5, by representatives of three privateers, the snow Duke of Marlborough, the snow Assistance and the sloop of war Fame's Revenge. The Duke of Marlborough was described as mounting 16 guns and carrying 102 men, and was represented by Captain Morris and his officers Gibbs, Carr, Bennett and Bull. The Assistance, 70 tons and 93 men, was represented by her captain, Richard I'on, Lieutenant William Roberts, Master Thomas Mathews, Surgeon Lionel Chalmers and Quartermaster John Smith. The Fame's Revenge, 60 tons, 12 guns and 50 men, was repre- sented by, Captain Clement Lampriere, Lieutenant Joshua Wilkinson and Quartermaster James Forrester. The con-
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sortship was to be for five weeks, and the proceeds were to be divided among the vessels according to their crews in the ratio of 16/42 for the Duke of Marlborough, 14/42 for the Assistance and 12/42 for the Fame's Revenge.
The three privateers put to sea on March 21, and cruised until March 30, on which day they sighted a sail and gave chase. The Duke of Marlborough outsailed her consorts and lost sight of them. On overtaking the chase, she found her to be a friend, not an enemy. In a few days the Duke of Marlborough met the Defiance, Captain Dennis, and these two Rhode Island privateers cruised off the coast of Cuba, where on April 6, 1745, they attacked and captured a Spanish galley with 116 men bound from South Keys for The Havana. This vessel, referred to as the Havana galley, was sent to New Providence, where she was condemned and the shares divided among the agents of the four privateers.
Meanwhile the Duke of Marlborough proceeded to Cape Antonio, the place of rendezvous, where on April 8 she met the Fame's Revenge and the Assistance. Captains I'on and Lampriere wanted to take their vessels to Key Mohair and careen, but Captain Morris wanted to cruise during the re- maining days of the consortship. No definite agreement was reached, but on April 12, the Fame's Revenge and the Assist- ance, without giving any of the signals agreed upon, set sail and went southward in the direction of Key Mohair, appar- ently to careen. Captain Morris signalled for them to cruise with him, but they did not reply, whereupon he set sail and steered northward towards The Havana, where rich prizes might be found. The Duke of Marlborough cruised without success until April 25, when she put in at New Providence. At this time the following mariners were serving on the Duke of Marlborough: Robert Hall, William Lassells, Timothy
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Carr, Henry Jago, Stephen Swain, Thomas Corbett, Samuel Morgan, Mathew Edmond, Joseph Pemberton, Charles Wamsley, James Wheeling, John Courtney, Peleg Cranston, William Graham, John Souther, Samuel Taylor, John Morris, Sylvanus Dessue, Thomas Richardson, Samuel Stacey, Reuben Lassens, Joseph Hudson, Samuel Coon, Christopher Helle (?Helme), Christopher Drumgold, Edward Moore, William Adams, Jonathan Arnold, John Mills, Nicholas Dollard, John Allen, Francis Allen, Jarvis Pinckney, Thomas Leach, John Wood, James Smith, Edward Little, John Reid, George Kinnislough, Alexander MacDonald, Lawrence Lee, Timothy Gahahling, John Ward, Valentine Kennedy, John Guy, John Chaw, John Baily, Daniel Clifton, Benjamin Gavit, Martin Blake, Peter Cross, Thomas Perry, Stephen Waters, George Irwin, William Fuller, William Gibbs, John Hambleton, James Bruton, Samuel Harck, John Arexon, Solomon Culver, Peter Carroll, Richard Brewer, William Greene, James Smith, James Dickson, Moses Hayder, Neville Harwood, Andrew Cranston, Emanuel Baird, Samuel Pomel, Simon Penew, David Williams, John Greene, Jeremiah Nichols, James Ferguson and eight negro slaves.
On April 14 the Fame's Revenge and the Assistance met the snow Cruizer of Philadelphia, Capt. William Clymer, and on April 16 these three privateers attacked four French vessels and fought until night. The next day they renewed the battle and took two of them, the Neptune, 400 tons, and the Jason, 150 tons. These vessels were taken into Charleston, where they were condemned on June 5. The Duke of Marl- borough sued her consorts for her share in these prizes, as they had been taken before the expiration of the consortship.
The Duke of Marlborough returned to Newport and was refitted for another cruise, her former second lieutenant,
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Benjamin Carr, becoming her commander for the next cruise. Her armament is given as 16 instead of 14 guns, and her crew as 100 men in the return dated July 1, 1745. Her officers were First Lieutenant William Sweet, formerly master on the Success, Second Lieutenant Robert Dunbar, Master John Souther, Mate William Warner, Captain's Quartermaster Jonathan Thurston, Jr., Gunner John Bailey, Boatswain John Gibson and Carpenter James Proctor. The owners were the same as on the previous cruise. The Duke of Marlborough soon sailed a-privateering with provisions for six months, and on October 21, 1745, off North Keys, about sixteen leagues to the eastward ("'windward") of Matanzas, Cuba, captured the Spanish sloop Fortune, a vessel of 50 tons, mounting 2 swivel guns and 2 pateraroes, and laden with "cotton-wool", tallow, snuff and merchandise. She was deserted by her crew upon the approach of the privateer. Captain Carr put his second lieutenant, Robert Dunbar, on board the Fortune with a prize crew, among whom was William Claggett, Junior. Lieutenant Dunbar brought the prize into Newport, where she arrived on the morning of November 20, 1745. The Fortune was originally a Massachusetts vessel, was owned by Robert Wyar of Sherborn, Nantucket, and Francis Swain and John Harper, both of Edgartown, and had been captured by the Spaniards in latitude 37° N. off Virginia on June 26, 1745. The court allowed salvage for the recapture. The Duke of Marl- borough cruised in consort with the Reprisal, and took part in the unfortunate attack on the "36 gun Spanish ship", in which engagement Capt. John Hopkins lost his life, as is related in the account of the Reprisal.
Soon after this the Duke of Marlborough, Capt. Benjamin Carr, captured a large English vessel laden with rum and sugar. This vessel was the Experiment of London, which had. formerly been commanded by Captain Curtis and Capt.
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Sylvanus Carr, and had been taken by the Spaniards. The Duke of Malborough and the Reprisal, now under the command of Captain Dunbar, convoyed this ship into Charlestown, S. C., where they arrived in February 1745-6.
During the summer and autumn of 1746, the Duke of Marlborough cruised in consort with the Charming Betty, and the account of their captures is given in connection with the story of the latter.
About the first of October 1746, the snow Duke of Marl- borough, Captain Carr, took a French ship off Monte Christi. Captain Carr put a prize crew on board of the ship, giving the command to his second lieutenant, Samuel Sweet. The other members of the prize crew were George Ryall, Matthew Jones, Nad, an Indian, William Easton and Peleg Cranston. The two vessels started for Newport, and sailed in consort until October 25. On that night, in latitude 32° 30' N, both vessels were forced to lie to in a hard gale, and soon became separated, although they showed lights once an hour.
The prize continued northward until November 19, when the prize crew mutinied and refused to work the vessel, unless she was headed westward for Carolina. Captain Sweet was forced to head for Charleston, only to meet with severe bad weather. The ship was obliged to scud before a terrific gale for six hours, and had her mainsail, main-top-sail and fore- top-sail blown away. The storm abated in the evening, but the water became so thick that they cast the lead, which showed only twelve fathoms. An hour later, at seven o'clock in the evening, they struck on Nantucket shoals. They finally beat over the shoals, lost their rudder and sprang a leak, and soon had 21/2 feet of water in the hold. As they only had one pump, all hands set to bailing. Then the pump broke. The next day they repaired the pump, but still found it nec-
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FRAGMENTS OF COURT DRESS, WHICH WAS PRESENTED BY KING GEORGE I TO WILLIAM HOPKINS, LATER CAPTAIN OF PRIVATEER PRINCE FREDERICK From Museum of Rhode Island Historical Society
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